public art

my Portland completely redeemed itself in my eyes (after my beef with it from “built”) during today’s City Dance. this event must have been blessed by the heavens because everything, literally everything, was perfect. whoever the sound guy was deserves an award for how clean and organic the music sounded (the musicians deserve some kudos for that too). the crowd was gracious and fluid. the weather was warm and with the sun shining on the Keller, then shimmering through the trees in the park, then just starting to set over the Lovejoy, it provided a natural choreography of light design to each act of the piece. the costume design was perfectly contemporary and evocative of the time it commemorated at the same time.
by turning the Lawrence Halprin fountains into a stage, City Dance honored this internationally influential piece of landscape architecture, commemorated the spontaneous public dance that happened at their unveiling and paid homage to Lawrence’s wife, choreographer Anna Halprin, but more importantly, it helped expose a 40-year old hidden architectural gem to a whole new audience and reveled in its celebratory public use, the original intent of the design.
– laura becker

Photo by CaroleZoom
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